Healthcare

The Kickapoo Valley Medical Center in Soldiers Grove operates through Vernon Memorial Hospital and is positioned to provide care to the communities of Soldiers Grove, Readstown, Gays Mills and beyond. The pharmacy is also associated with the hospital. Skilled nursing at Sannes Skogdalen Heim offers 24/7 care for people who require the services of professional nursing staff or are unable to live independently.

Driftless Map Graphic

The Heart of the Driftless

Community

Eugene Moran

Soldiers Grove Heritage

Eugene P. Moran

Eugene “Papa Gene” Moran enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in October of 1942 and served as a B-17 Flying Fortress tail gunner. On November 29, 1943, while on a bombing mission near Bremen, Germany, the tail section of his plane was shot off. From 28,000 feet, and with severe gunshot wounds and a riddled parachute, Staff Sgt. Moran rode the tail section to the ground at the rate of 100 feet per second. He survived the descent, but suffered a crushed skull when the tail hit a tree trunk. Taken Prisoner of War, he was saved by a Serbian doctor, also a POW. He was inhumanely incarcerated for almost 18 months, and endured a 600-mile forced march during one of the harshest winters on record. He was liberated on April 26, 1945 and was awarded two Purple Hearts, the Air Medal with Gold Leaf Cluster, the European Theater Award, and the Good Conduct Medal.